Times Have Changed
SrsL6YFvY1M After many years of searching, and several failed attempts to pursue his daughter -- none could complete the task. Squadrons of ANBU slaughtered by Kurumi's sole resistance, forcing the beloved to be deemed as an enemy of her home country. Charged with the act of treason, a substantial bounty was placed on her capture. But none where successful. As time went on, Kiyoshi had soon relieved himself from office, no longer being able to deal with the troubles left by his daughter. And now, with the help of his eldest, the a man was finally able to locate Kurumi's whereabouts -- coming upon the Land of Yang. The man released a light sigh before stepping on the land's soil. It had been a little over a decade since the two had last saw one another. Kiyoshi's being filled with confliction, possessing feelings of love for his child but the goal of addiction being his missoon. Words simply could not explain his feelings. Looking forward to the reunion with Kurumi but also dreading the actions that would partake soon after. He traveled through the forests, feeling a quite powerful presence in the land itself. "This is odd..." Kurumi looked up from her stack of papers, the therapeutic motion of filling them out forgotten as something registered on her radar. A slow smile crept to her face as she recognized the feel of that signature. "So you came." she said contentedly, putting her pen down. "Should I attack him or talk first....I guess I could do both." Kuru laughed. Kiyoshi would feel the land he traversed becoming darker, menacing as it became aware of it's deity's feelings towards Ki's presence. A exact replica of Kurumi emerged from a tree above the lonely man, before leaping down. "It's been a while." she commented, her gaze violet as she took in how much her father had changed, having grown older since she last interacted with him. Though he still retained some of the vigor of his past years. "Welcome to my homeland." Kuru added, gesturing at the world around them. One could say the entire country was staring at the two as tension crackled between them, a small smirk twitching at the corner of the lady daimyõ's lips. She cracked her knuckles as a woodland deer approached Kiyoshi before nosing him curiously. "Traitor," she teased as the deer walked away. Despite the tenuous feeling in the atmosphere, the woman exhibited a light-hearted ease. The wondering father ceased his movements, feeling as stir went about the land. The man would turn toward his daughter, mirroring her smile with one of his own. It was almost as if he didn't recognize her -- studying the effects of her substantial growth over the years since her departure. "You should've known this day would come. After all these years." He returned as he walked forward. "My dear daughter, you're all grown up." Stopping just short of her, the man's large frame towered over Kurumi. His dark gray eyes lightened a bit, remembering the simpler times when she was just a mere toddler. He reached out lightly caressing the woman's face with a fatherly affection. In an attempt to set up a stoic demeanor to hide his confliction, Kiyoshi's face harden into a serious glare. "I see you possess your grandfather's kekkei genkai." Removing his hand, the man's turned his back toward Kurumi. "That would explain the odd feeling of this forest. Impressive." His hand placed on the butt of his sword, Kurumi could probably assume what would come about next. "I don't expect you to make this easy," "That tends to happen when time passes." she responded, her violet eye color shifting to a lighter shade of amethyst. Kurumi remembered a time when life was simpler, when one didn't have to worry about the mess things had become and the accident that changed her trajectory permanently. Such memories were brought forth by the fatherly affection displayed by Kiyoshi. His glare caused her own smile to fade into a frown. "Both my grandfather's and great-great-great-great-grandfather's KG actually." she stated, remembering the First Hokage. Her frown deepened at his last statement, "How did you find me?" she asked. Already knowing the answer but searching for a confirmation. "So you're here for the reason I thought you are. Curious to see if you can succeed where your brethren have failed?" Kurumi said condescendingly, traces of her grandfather present in her tone. "This was never to be easy. That is something I saw to personally father. Times have changed and I responsibilities to tend to." "You're smart, you should already know how I was able to find you." Kiyoshi said blankly. Having already been on his guard, the man slowly began to unsheath his holy sword. "This was inevitable, Kurumi. Your actions caused a shift among our family and the village as a whole." A sudden surge of energy engulfed the man's body, sparks of his affinity being present within the air. "Squadrons of ANBU, those of which, were instructed not to use lethal force. Slaughtered. Killed by one of their own." The energy around them grew thicker with every passing moment. "Do you know how it feels to be prompted to declare your own child as Rogue?" Kiyoshi's voice was deadly serious, remembering the struggle of having to choose between his child and his country. "Kurumi Yuri, you have been charged with treason." By now, the man's sword was completely revealed -- and the battle would soon commence. "I am here to do what others failed to complete. And by the end of this, you will be returning home." "Heh. Ha. Oh god that's so rich. Not use lethal force? I guess everything just below that threshold was to suffice then. As long as the technicality wasn't breached all was well." Kurumi retorted. "Do you what it's like to be smothered by your homeland, your potential restricted for their own peace of mind?" Upon his declaration, a sense of piece entered her system. It was over; the chance of reconciliation had passed. "Then there's nothing left to be said." her grin was audible as her own chakra upsurged, her trusty bõ staff present in her hand. Giving it an experimental twirl she pointed at him. With the slight moving of her lips, roots chased after Kiyoshi with unnerving speed, seeking to restrict him from multiple angles. "Leave me alone. I have no business with your nation anymore. I gave that same message to each one of your Kumo squads. But each one refused to listen to me." She backed up before her chakra rose to massive levels, becoming a song that resonated with the woodlands around her, causing them to heed her call. "Never return here. This is my home now. That place stopped being by home as soon as its people decide to cripple me." she sneered, her eyes burning with purple fire. With nothing left to be said, the field had been set and the combatants began their respective assaults. Kurumi was the first to act, using her coveted kekkei genkai at attack her father from all sides. Her father nodded in approval, preparing himself to make an adequate counter-attack. With the man's energy being present within the atmosphere, Kiyoshi would then go to call upon it -- manipulating it into the form of lightning. This lightning would be used to combat the woodland roots, tearing through the roots and causing them to catch fire. Kiyoshi dark gaze intensified yo his return Kurumi's glare. Channeling his potent energy through the rest of his being, Kiyoshi sought to shorten the distance between them -- using the lightning aura to evade any roots from establishing contact. With his sword held backwards, Kiyoshi swung in a side motion -- actually attempting to use his initial attack as a feint: slightly opening his mouth to reveal his fire breathing intentions. Should Kurumi attempt to defend the sword's slash, she along with her forest would be set ablaze. He remained as spry as ever, his speed leaving Kurumi mildly impressed as he closed the gap while releasing a fireball to the woman's face. She greeted such an attempt with a release of water from her own mouth in order to cancel out her father's effects. While roots rushed to their guardian's aid in order to protect from the sword feint while looking to ensnare his arm. It became as natural as breathing, seeing as this forest was an extension of Kuru. While balancing on a foot, she leaped, using her father's head as a step stool before somersaulting over him. As soon as her feet touched the ground she turned, executing a 180 turn while bringing her bõ staff upon the center of his back with a vicious flick of her wrist. The woman had her mother's strength after all. Not a drop of mercy existed in her bones if Kiyoshi insisted upon returning her to Kumogakure. Her patience for that place had long since dried up. And she was intent on reminding Kiyoshi that he would have to kill her if he planned on bringing her back to the hell-hole. It was time for the woman to spread her wings and see the world around her. Not settle and die in the place she was born. And he would expect nothing less from his own child, being more than capable of maneuvering with no difficulty. The man smiling to himaelf, using his stimulated energy to leap incredible bounds into the air -- successfully evading more roots that intended to restrict his movements. It all was becoming clear, the forest was Kurumi's great asset, she was sync with nature itself; mastering the wood release kekkei genkai to an even greater extent than Seika could've only ver dreamt if achieving. But he remained as calm as ever while ascending into the skies. Kiyoshi smiled widely, pointing toward Kurumi's back. From her rear, the woman would take notice of Kiyoshi's own act of deception. Created from the element release from his body moments before attacking. The clones rushed her at alarming speeds, with the sole brave attempt of jumping on her -- a rather childish gesture embedded in the man's fight style. Kuru sighed as her father evaded her attack, taking to the skies. Not wasting time, the woman waited until they were nearly upon her before releasing her chakra from every possible tenketsu, creating a wave that radiated out, slapping the clones backwards while causing them to vaporize from the force. Her presence remained as potent as ever, causing the woman to smirk. Noting her father's vulnerable position in the sky, she created a Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique to chase him, closing in on the man with it's fangs bared and at unnerving speed. She had buried a few surprises within the dragon, one that her father would soon find out to his personal dismay. Not that she was worried for the man's health, considering his was a former Kage. "Hmph." she thought to herself as she awaited his move, knowing that he would have to come down at some point. Though her smile showed the girl was enjoying this battle, having waited so long to stretch her legs against a more challenging opponent. It all seem to have fallen in place, to Kuru's dismay, possessing little to no knowledge of Kiyoshi's lightning prowess. Unlike normal clones, these clone could cause catastrophic results of forcibly disbursed. And with Kurumi doing just that, she would've fell as prey to his malicious attack. The force of her chakra itself caused the clones to explode upon being repelled backward. Massive explosion would've surely devastated the entire area where she stood. Using his exponential control over the fire element, Kiyoshi had been able to stay afloat by gearing the energy toward the soles of his feet. With the dragon's pursuit, Kiyoshi sought to meet it head on with an attack of his own. Engulfing his form in a aura of lightning, Kiyoshi slashed in sword in a downward motion, spilling the dragon in two. He further continue his travel to the ruined grounds below -- rupturing with the ground with that energy in his quake. She laughed as devastation ruled the day, explosions rocking the area as the lightning clones annihilated the area where she stood and the slash made an ugly gash in her land. He was Kumo through and through with his lightning aptitude. She snapped her fingers, causing the dragon that he had split to immediately reform, each half becoming a whole as they took advantage of his momentum based trajectory to attack him, one closing on his shoulder. They were completely undeterred by his lightning aura, simply biting through the layer while enhancing their own vigor from the gained chakra. For they were designed with a specific function in mind. As for the devastation, the woman emerged unscathed, rolling her neck to work out any kinks, while feeling the forest regrow around her, shining in its original luster as if nothing had happened. "Never. Ever. Harm. My Nursery." she stated flatly as she watched the dragons begin doing their work in besieging the man. The man stood in place, fully accepting the fact that a dragon was masticating on his arm. His stare was blank as the energies were being drained his body. "You nursery? YOU HAVE KIDS?!" He retorted immaturely, pulling his arm out of the dragon's tusks. He would go to place his sword back into its sheath before reinserting his arm back into the mouth of the dragon. An peculiar action with planned with specific purpose. And in actuality, her actions were the direct cause of this outcome. Kiyoshi's chakra was like a parasite slowly but surely infecting the very land she sought to protect. Like her, his energy was becoming mixed with her own through direct absorption and from the ruptured ground. The dragon chomp weaker and weaker, by now Kurumi would have felt a massive a massive disturbance as the land was being deprived of something valuable for its existence. Water. The lands begin to rumble and screech as the once lively vegetation begin to wilt. The healthy green and brown colors turn gray, the dragon had eventually collapsed, turning into a a swivel of a branch from what it once was. Kiyoshi still bore an emotionless expression, slowly lifting his hand to summon up what he had done. And through the wilted dry land, their forest's source of life began to bubble into the air. Upon recognizing what he was doing the dragon immediately let go, though it still retained the effects of his plan. And now Kurumi was angry. Beyond angry actually as she watched her homeland wilt with Kiyoshi's intervention. A sneer lit her face as she noted such an action was a two way street. He should have never connected his chakra to this place. Placing her hands together as if in prayer, her indigo gaze glowed slightly as she mapped out the parasitic tendencies of his energy. Finding the half she wanted, the woman pulled on those strings, converting his imbued parasitic chakra into life giving Yang, transforming the dying landscape into its full vigor once more. Though it lacked water, it could prove to thrive just as well on the energy of this world. "Think of the world as my child. One that I must protect from treachery like you." Kuru stated flippantly. Knowing that her father would feel the reversal of energy taking place as his plan was flipped on its head. Her smile grew as she created more handseals, bringing the entire landscape and atmosphere they resided into full bloom. The potency of the technique only increased by the conversion ratio that Kuru had placed on her father's slight of hand. It was the ultimate act of betrayal, the animal would bite back at the hand that fed it. It was a simple parasitic infection that would later turn into one cancerous disaster. While Kiyoshi was foolish to bond his chakra with the land, Kurumi would be even more foolish as to use it recreate her lost life. In this instance, this is where Ki could show the earnings of early training days. It was because of the near absolute control over his energies that would allow the tide of battle to shift in Kiyoshi's favor. The forest vegetation bloomed anew, being created from the same source used destroyed it. Kiyoshi marveled at the attempt, giving his daughter several hand claps to compliment her excessive skill set. "Using my very essence to recreate your land. Not the smartest decision you could've made but an impressive feat nonetheless." Having funneled his chakra to the ground from his earlier descent, Kiyoshi was provided with more than what he needed for the hostile takeover to commence. Using the now cancerous effect of his power, the energies would continue to spread throughout the far reaches of the land. Using the other half of his granted powers, Kiyoshi would utilize this as a means for elemental manipulation, an asset he had been well trained in over his lifetime. Grasping hold of the yang Kurumi created from his essence, Kiyoshi would forcibly re-bond his essence with his spiritual energy. This allowed him to gain a precise control over the Woodland area despite not possessing the wood release kekkei genkai. Kiyoshi slowly lifted his hand, consciously commanding the vegetation to attack its former master, wrapping itself around her body; soon encasing her being leaving nothing but her face visible. "Oh, so this is a clone?" Kiyoshi said suddenly, having discovered Kurumi's location from their bonding energies. A storm began to brew as the once bubbly liquid began to shift into clouds. The heavy gray clouds match the darkness of Kiyoshi's remorseless gaze. "See you in a bit." Kurumi tapped a pen on her desk as her clone was engulfed. "Don't you hate it when your parents try to take your things away?" she said to no one in particular. Though elemental master he may be, and someone befitting of the Raikage title, he was no Wood Release user by any stretch of the imagination. She yawned, before communicating telepathically to her clone. "Dispel." Following her original's instructions, she did, seeping back into the earth as a pure form of yin-energy. There was a purpose behind this, as the now dissipated clone formed a wave of her own, quickly catching and overriding the destruction her father was reaping. The land itself turned back to its guardian, adapting an overwhelming yin form that would then switch to yang, creating a yin-yang flow that disrupted and expelled Kiyoshi's own, returning the countryside to its rightful owner. Kuru designed the disruptive mechanism to continue on an unending track, lest her father try such tricks once more. The signal was shown must clearly by the roots falling away from the now empty space. "You're a stubborn one." Kurumi stated aloud, her eyes shifting to a radiant forest green, filled with the life mother nature had to offer. But could just as quickly take away. Thunder rolled across the restless sky as the land shifted below. It appeared time for heaven and earth to meet once more. She stood, her smile that of relentless sadism, the darker half of nature's coin. "I look forward to it." By removing his parasitic energies from the equation, the man would lose his ability to sense her precise location. Though she retained her ability to find his. She leaped out of her daimyõ office window before landing on a treetop, letting rise until Kuru could see across the entire world that was her own. A slow grin alighted as the woman spotted Kiyoshi from a massive distance away. "Found you." Kiyoshi could feel as his grip over the nation began to loosen until eventually it was gone. "Damn." The man cursed to himself, losing his ability to detect his daughter's exact location. Despite being at a massive disadvantage once again, Kiyoshi remained at calm as ever -- carefully examining his surroundings. Reigniting the fire in the soles of his feet, Kiyoshi took to the skies like a rocket powered jet. That man continued to fly straight ahead, making his way to the place where he last felt the original source. Knowing there would be done sort of ambush along the way, Kiyoshi continued the charge. Spotting a large building in the distance, the man would began yet another assault. Clasping his hands as if in prayer, the man began to surge the potent energies through his being once again. His hands slowly separated as the devastation between them was revealed. A miniature ball of fire, he would release it, allowing the ball to slowly make its descent to the earth. With his longer finger, the man released a jolt of lightning. As if it were a switch to a ticking time bomb, the condense ball of fire exploded in massive proportions. Bring a fiery rain down upon the land, targeted specifically at the woman's sanctuary. Kurumi tsked at her father's fiery display, particularly as it raced towards her offices. Making specific handseals, she formed a barrier of water that encompassed the structure, absorbing the flames as they continued to rain down from above. Following the reverse trajectory, she spotted her father residing just below the dangerously overcast sky. Her chakra built as another wood dragon developed below her before lifting her on to it's back. Meanwhile, the water tight dome shimmered before fading to the trees below, returning to earth and refilling its reservoir. "Shall we meet him once more?" Kuru asked, only for the dragon to snort as it took to the skies, stopping a short distance from the floating man. Kurumi smirked at her father, "Come to collect your rebel daughter? Why is it that you people can't understand that I don't want to return home? I've found my own place and a new scene. It's not in me to remain the baby forever; the time has come for me to spread my wings." She shook her head, already expecting an answer from Kiyoshi that she wouldn't like Kiyoshi mug remained hardened. His face displayed an emotionless panel, his eyes reflected that exact same demeanor. While he did expect her not to comply with his wishes, he did, however, expect for her to put up as much of a fight as she did. "My rebel daughter, ehh?" He replied in a smug manner, chuckling at his daughter comment. "I can honestly say that your development is unlike anything u could've predicted." Kiyoshi was beginning to voice his growing impatience, his glare deepening as the moments passed. "Whether you want to come back or not isn't up for discussion. We clearly had opposing views, so it is either you come back willingness or Papa is going to have to drag you back against your will." If was the ultimatum he was offering, the finally chance Kiyoshi was getting his daughter to surrender. "I do not really to harm you, Kurumi. But you're leaving me with little options."